In a note sent to the MEA on September 2, the culture ministry pointed to certain discrepancies. The note, available with Headlines Today, states: "A project consultant was hired by the MEA and the project cost went up by 21 times from Rs 53 lakh to Rs 8 crore."

The culture ministry said that no justification for the revision of the project cost was given even as it was done without its concurrence. MEA should go for an open bidding process to ensure transparency, the culture ministry note suggested.

The development has left the Indian government red faced with an important neighbour like Sri Lanka since the matter was sensitive in nature. India's envoy to Sri Lanka Ashok Kantha and cultural secretary Jawahar Sircar had several rounds of meetings, but that has failed to resolve the matter so far.